The Deranged Thief (Rewrite)
by ArabianDragon
Summary: When Hiccup is injured on a ride, Dagur takes the chance to take Hiccup and Astrid, and will do anything to force Berks secrets out of them. No matter how huge the consequences. Rated T for injury and slight language Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or any of the characters in this story.
1. Chapter 1 (hopefully with paragraphing)

**/Oh wow sorry I don't know what happened in the last chapter, I had paragraphs but they seemed to have gone I have no idea what happened. Apologies o.o this is the same chapter but hopefully with the paragraphs... Anyway as I'm deleting the previous chapter, this is a rewrite of my previous story, I wasn't very happy with it but let's try again shall we...**

The Haddocks front door was knocked in the early hours of Saturday morning. It was the weekend, no classes in the academy, a whole two days for the teens to do as they pleased. It was a relief, the past week had been absolutely hectic (let's just say more things got blown up than what should be considered normal, even for Berks standards.)

Stood on the outside of the door was Astrid Hofferson, shivering slightly in the cool morning mist. She pulls her arms closer into herself, trying to preserve what little heat her surroundings had to offer. She knocked again, eager to get out into a source of heat. Nothing. Just as she lifted her hand to knock for a third time, the door was pulled open.

"Hello Astrid, good morning." A familiar, deep, voice greeted. "Good morning Chief." She returned, smiling lightly while batting a piece of her from her eyes. The voice belonged to Stoick The Vast, chief of the tribe... or Hiccups father, either worked. "Come in!" He says, gesturing towards the inside of the home. She smiles gratefully, instantly feeling a flood of warmth come in her direction. She subconsciously let out a small sigh of delight, before glancing over to him.

"Is Hiccup home? Or has he left without me?" She asks, chuckling slightly at the last part. Stoick smiles, shaking his head. "No- he's just upstairs, you can go get him if you want." He returns, nodding his head in the direction of the stairs as he gently pulls the door shut. Astrid nods, beginning to move up the steps. "Thank you Chief." She calls over her shoulder, before disappearing round the corner.

"Hiccup?" She asks, slowly moving the door open. As she pushes it further, the whole room comes into view. She scans it from her spot, quickly spotting the boy sat in his desk.

"Hey- Hiccup!" She says again, this time catching his attention. "Oh-Hey Astrid, hi Astrid, hey." He stutters, jumping round in his seat, slightly taken aback by the small shout. "Uh, Hi Astrid." He says again, earning a subtle head shaking from her. "Morning!" She cheerfully responds, stepping fully inside. From the corner, a black shape sits up, gurgling fondly. "And to you too." She laughs in the direction of Toothless, giving yet another fond smile.

She walks across the room, leaning on the back of Hiccups chair, instantly seeing his journal strewn open on the desk. "Watchya doing...?" She curiously asks, leaning over his shoulder. "Uh, n-nothing. Yep nothing." He says, trying to cover up the image that obviously laid in front of them. "Well there's something there!" She responds, trying to get a better look.

She scrunched her eyebrows, pouting slightly. "Let me see! Please?!" She begs, before simply giving up on asking and pulling at the corner of the book, having it successfully land in her hands.

"Aha!" She grins, flipping it over. "Astrid no!" He groans back, raising his arm in a feeble attempt to get the book back in his possession. Astrid shook her head, and evil grin plastered on her face. She laughs, before taking a proper look.

And laid before her was...something. She found herself staring back at her, in an almost mirror like scenario. Hiccup had drawn her. "Hiccup, this is...amazing..." She murmurs, brushing her fingers over the arrangement of lines.

He had gotten everything, the pattern of her shirt, the way her hair hang over her eyes, even the dull shine of her axe. "N- It's nothing." He sheepishly responds, taking the book back and briskly closing it, placing it in his vest. Astrid blinks slowly, used to Hiccups modestly. "Well I think it was pretty cool." She smirks in response, noticing his faint blush. She shakes her head, shrugging. "Let's move on..." He says, standing up.

As he did so, Astrid noted how much taller he was getting, in fact he was only a centimetre or so off from overtaking her.

"Are we actually gonna go flying now?" He asks, the Haddock sarcasm showing through.

"Oh most definitely."

It took minutes for the two to get in the air, and an even shorter time to begin an unannounced race. "Oh it's on Haddock." She calls edging to start going, already pulling slightly ahead. "Oh is it..." He smirks, instantly pulling forward.

"Hey!" The other shouts, getting further behind every second. "What...?" He innocently calls over his shoulder, letting out a chuckle of laughter. "If you wanna win you should probably hurry up!"

Astrid raised an eyebrow, challenge accepted. "Come on Stormfly!" She grins, the pair instantly speed up, gaining ground (well air.) Hiccup shakes his head, trying to push on faster, Toothless doing the same. They were gaining speed, Astrid and Stormfly left behind in the dust.

"All right then..." She murmurs under her breath. There was no way she was letting him win this thing. "Stormfly! Single spine shot!" She commands, a single spike soaring over her head. It plants itself just in front of the other two, narrowly missing Hiccups head.

"Hey!" He shouts in protest, pulling Toothless away from the tree it wedged itself in. "Well you're the one who went without me!" She laughs, moving ahead.

Hiccup scowled, regaining his posture before moving forward, fast on the others tail. "Toothless, Plasma Blast!" He says, the command quickly followed by a purple orb. It hits a tree to the right of the Nadder, causing her to stop in surprise.

"Bye Astrid..." He grins, easily overtaking her. "Hiccup!"

"What- you shot first!"

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is the point?"

'Wow he's not frustrating,' she silently thought, biting her lip. The pair edge forwards, Stormflys head quickly in line with Toothless' tail. They were so close. They were inline with his saddle, herself and Hiccup neck and neck.

"Come on bud!" Hiccup calls, followed by a- "You can do it Stormfly!" Their destination came into sight, the final sprint about to take place.

"Now or never bud..." There was seconds left- and then...

A pain hit Hiccups leg, coming out of nowhere. And it hurt. He let out a small cry, a spasm starting to form in the stump. It was as if he had hit it on a wall, the multiplied the pain by ten. It had never hurt this much, not that he could remember of.

"Toothless!" He shouted, a tear forming in his eye. No this couldn't be happening- not now! Toothless jerked, Hiccup no longer able to take control of his tail. They were going to crash.

"Hiccup...?" Astrid said, not instantly catching into what was happening, until it was far to late. Hiccup gasped in pain again, trying to regain his balance. The two jolted down further, before they completely went, hurtling towards the forest below.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted again, in complete horror. Hiccups eyes batted open, the trees getting closer and closer. They had three seconds, two seconds, one second. He heard one last shout, before everything went black.

**/So... I hope the paragraphs show this time, I'm really sorry about yesterday I'm not sure what happened...anyway...**


	2. Chapter 2

**/Hey! Thanks for all the reviews and feedback, they mean a lot (: I'm also very sorry for what happened in chapter one, I hope it doesn't happen again...anyway let's try again for chapter two**

Astrid chocked, Stormfly instantly pulling to a stop. Her mind tried to process what had happened. Something had happened to Hiccup. He couldn't move the tail. She wasn't moving fast enough.

She bit back a sob, she had to be practical. Her first reaction was to scan the floor, hoping for some indication of where they had crash landed. But there was nothing, they had disappeared.

Her breathing sped up, heart pumping in her chest.  
"H-Hiccup?" She said again, in a much quieter voice, dripping with terror. She glanced round again, trying to spot the two, but they had gone through the trees, failing to leave a mark.

"Hiccup! Toothless?" She shouted, and much to her surprise, got a reply. A screech rose from the ground below, off to the left. Toothless.

"Toothless!" She shouted again, moving Stormfly towards the noise. Another screech echoed around, but no sound of a person. Why wasn't Hiccup saying anything? "Hiccup?" She called again in desperation. Nothing. He should be responding- unless, unless...  
No. He couldn't be gone... he was Hiccup, he just couldn't be.

Hiccup couldn't die- not yet. He had survived everything else, this couldn't be the end... Could it? No- she shook the thought from her head. Hiccup was alive, maybe she just couldn't hear him.

"Toothless!" She shouted again- if she wasn't getting a response from Hiccup himself, Toothless seemed like the best option. She heard the scream again, immediately following it.

She eventually came across it- the mis-shapen gap in the trees. Hiccup was down there. He was so close, she just had to go down, everything would be fine- what's the worse that could happen...right?

"Stormfly- down there!" She says, pointing down though the small hole, and Stormfly instantly following the command. She shook her head as branches brushed past her face, but it was just for a second, then they were down.

The first thing she saw was Toothless, as expected, but then there was something out of place. The metallic smell lingering in the air made it unmistakeable- blood. A lot of it.

"Hiccup." She said again, leaping of Stormfly and running forwards. "H-Hiccup!" She said again, her eyes pricking with tears. She reached Toothless' side, but he didn't move. His eyes were fixed in something, a small whimper escaping the dragons throat.

What she saw next really did stop her heart. Hiccup was strewn across the floor. The rope that attached himself to Toothless had completely snapped in half, Hiccup wasn't even on his back anymore.

The injuries. Astrid didn't know where to start. His left arm was bent in an unnatural form- well that would be an understatement. It was bent completely back, his palm under his back. It was clearly broken, it must have been the one he rolled onto.

Then there was his head, a lot of the blood seemed to be coming from this area. She couldn't see the cut under his hair, but his head was resting in a crimson puddle of the stuff. It was a sight that made bile appear in Astrids mouth, forcing her to swallow it back down.

His other arm seemed to be okay, she breathed a sigh of relief, before seeing his legs. The right one seemed to be okay, perhaps bruised or twisted, it looked as though his left side had taken the impact of whatever they hit on the way down, but his left leg- was, well, gone.

Well it had been gone anyway, but the prosthetic had gone. It only took her seconds to spot it, it had been ripped off his leg, tossed to the side. It looked as though the straps had been broken, bent right back. If it hadn't already been lost- Hiccups leg would have been painfully snapped in two.

He groaned, a sharp inhale could be heard. Astrid snapped out of her trance, scrambling forward. Toothless cooed, not sure what was happening. What had happened to Hiccup? Why wouldn't he get up?!

"Toothless, it's okay..." Astrid reassures, kneeling at hiccups side. As she sat, he rolled forward a bit. A small gasp escapes him, making Astrid wince. "Come on Hic..." She mumbled, gently picking up his head.

Her hand was instantly covered in blood, the sticky substance coating to her clothes. She had to act fast or Hiccup would die there and then. He groaned again, pushing Astrid on.

"Hiccup if you can hear me, I'm sorry but this is probably going to hurt. " She admitted, not even sure if he was conscious, most probably not. She gently grasped his side, Toothless growing gently. He stopped though, he could trust Astrid.

"Okay, okay..." She whispers, bringing him up slightly. He winced as his arm fell to his side, straightening out. "Shoot." She curses, moving faster, she had to get this done. She looks over to Toothless, trying to hatch a plan. "Okay boy, I think your going to have to lie down, and be very careful." She asks, edging towards him.

As if understanding, Toothless crawled forward, until, he was at Hiccups side. He didn't know what was happening, but he and Astrid seemed to be Hiccups only hope.

Once they were right next to each other, they faced another problem, how would he stay on. Well there seemed to only be one way, and Astrid wasn't going to waste a second longer. She quickly threw (not literally) herself and Hiccup onto Toothless, scrambling to stop Hiccup from slipping over the other side.

When impact was made, Hiccup let out a moan of pain, his eyes flickering.  
"No no no, don't wake up..." She hummed, desperate to keep him unconscious or this thing could get nasty.

He seemed to calm down again, but still wincing every five seconds or so. As Astrid glanced back, she saw how bad it really was, there was two pools of blood, and numerous splats on the trees. It looked like a scene in a horror film of some sort. All they could do was hope no one happened to walk though the small clearing.

She shivered, looking back down. Hiccup was still bleeding- a lot- but there wasn't an awful lot she could do right now. "Toothless, take us back..."

**/Hey, so how was that? I tried not to be to gruesome but there would be no story if I wasn't ;) haha, well please tell me what you think, and if you think it's gotten better. I hope it has. Anyway, thanks for reading and see you next update (:**


	3. Chapter 3

**/If your still reading, hey. Like I said, this won't be updated a whole lot, but I'll get it done promise! Dagur will come in soon, not this chapter, but hopefully the next. Anyway, here's chapter 3.**

Getting back proved a challenge. Actually that's an understatement. Toothless had to get back as fast as possible, without flying or going too fast. So in the end it turned out to be a frustratingly slow mix between a jog and actual running.

The good news was Hiccup was moving. Well he wasn't awake, but at least he wasn't, well, dead.

"Come on Hic, hold on, ten more minutes." Astrid whispered, gently cradling him in her arms. His blood was seeping onto her top, more than likely staining it. Toothless cooed, perfectly aware of the danger his best friend was in.

It was midday, but it was still cool. Heck, there was still frost coating the grass. Astrid shivered slightly, she hadn't even noticed cold it had gotten in the panic of everything. She felt Hiccup shiver in her arms, instantly wishing she had some warmth to offer him. But of course she didn't, she never carried extra clothes. Maybe that would be a good idea.

She jolted suddenly, coming out of her trail thoughts in an instant. She gently pats Toothless' side, trying to comfort him.  
"He'll be fine." She chokes, not even believing her own words for a second.

After what seems a generation, the four jog into the town. Other villagers instantly saw them, and offered a friendly wave. Astrid shook her head, shaking in her panic. The women closet hesitated, before seeing the limp body in Astrids arms.

She runs forwards, gaining the attention of other by-passers.  
"W-what happened dear?" She spluttered at Astrid, unsure of what to do. Astrid said nothing, gesturing towards Hiccup, who was now whimpering slightly. The women, bites her lip, helping Astrid off Toothless and taking a hold of Hiccup.

"I'll get the healer." A male voice shouts from behind them, Astrid turns, and smiles gratefully.

The women takes off one of her layers, and places it on the ground. She picks up Hiccup, laying him out on the fabric. Not the comfiest of places, but it would have to do. Astrid kneels beside him, her hands shaking.

Hiccups eyes flutter slightly. He was waking up. If that was a good thing she wasn't sure.  
"Shh..." She ushers, offering all the comfort she could manage without actually touching him.

Hiccup groans again, trying to roll onto his side. His mouth opens, as if to speak, but no words come out. Just a large breath. He stops for a second, before rolling back into his original position. Astrid nods, hoping he'll stay put.

By now a large crowd had gathered round, curious about the commotion. Once realising who was lying on the floor, murmurs went through the crowd.

"Is that Hiccup?"  
"What happened?!"  
"Where's Stoick?"

The chatter was hushed when an unmistakable voice boomed over the crowd.  
"What's going on?" Asked the voice of the chief.

Everyone went silent, clearing a path so the large man could reach the front. He hesitated, everyone was giving him stares as if they knew something. He shrugs it off, pushing forwards.

The first thing he actually saw was Toothless. His ears perked and eyes open wide. The chief glanced around, Hiccup wasn't there.  
"Chief- he's uh..." A female voice said from the ground, Astrid. He looked down, well now he knew where Hiccup was.

"Son?" Is all he manages to say. He kneels down, beside Astrid, resisting the temptation to pick up the unconscious body.

The slap of feet becomes audible from behind the crowd.  
"She's here, well coming. Yeah."

The elder is just behind him, and despite her age was there within five minutes. She pushes through the crowd, not waiting for the larger Vikings to move. Astrid and Stick split apart, making a gap.

She sets to work right away, treating the wounds more likely to infected within the next ten minutes. Several bandages and herbs later, she 'asks' for help to get him to the hut.

Stoick and Gobber and obviously first to offer. It's the first thing either have said since the commotion began.

~One Hour Later~

The Haddock household was once again silent. A bed sat in the main room, as close to the fire as it could get without, well, setting fire. In the bed was none other than Hiccup Haddock. His father was sat at the side, taking a gentle hold of his sons hand.

The small boy was bundled under several layers of various blankets and furs. His head was propped up on two pillows, something about having to keep it elevated. Despite all the layers and fire a foot or so away, Hiccup was still shivering a little.

"Oh Hiccup..." He sighs. The elder says he would wake up soon, really soon. Probably in a day or two, maybe even that night. His injuries weren't as bad as anticipated. A few bruised ribs, most probably a twisted ankle or such. Most of the impact went to his foot which wasn't actually there, and his head. That was most of the problem.

Hiccup groaned lightly, shifting his position. Stoick smiled lightly. He was right, it could be worse.

From the side of him, Toothless whines. He had somehow managed to avoid any injuries from their little crash, so was now sick with worry.  
"He'll be okay..." The large man reassures, gently patting the reptile on the head. Toothless whines again, but seems a little more relaxed.

The chief yawns, exhausted from the last few hours events, he hesitates to sleep though, what if something happened and he was asleep? He was an extremely deep sleeper, he would most probably dream on through anything happening.

After a few more minutes of trying to make a decision, he opts for spending the night on the sofa, hopefully nothing would happen. He sighs, standingup slowly and moving to his temporary bed, settling down for the night.

**/So...yeah. Sorry this is a very uneventful chapter. I promise Dagur will come in next chapter! Okay, see you soon (probably)**


	4. Chapter 4

**/*Le Gasp*Two chapters in two days? Yep, don't get used to it is all I can say xD So yeah, hopefully faster updates now! Dagur finally makes an appearance, kidnapping maybe next chapter, I'm not entirely sure. Oh and just to point out, this is set after the first time Dagur visits Berk back in series one, but he does know about the dragons. Anyway, chapter** **4...**

Stoick awoke the next morning with a jolt. He sat up, curious as what to woken him. Toothless seemed to be doing the same, ears perked and head searching the room. He hadn't moved from his spot near the bed last night, not that anyone really expected him too.

_Knock, knock, knock._

It was the door. Stoick sat up completely, rubbing his face. He glanced over to Hiccup. He hadn't moved round much either last night. Good. That was probably the healer at the door, she said she'd visit the next morning (so yes, today.)

The door knocks again, this time he ambles towards it, pulling it open with a yawn. A gust of cool wind enters the home, making the fire in the centre of the room dance around. The person outside, or should I say people, quickly enter, not wasting a second.

"Morning Chief." One voice says. Astrid. He smiles warmly.  
"Hello Astrid, how are you today?" He asks, trying to sound less depressed than he actually was.  
"I'm, I'm okay," She returns, "how's Hiccup?"

Stoick stops for second. He wasn't much of a doctor, but Hiccup looked as if he was okay. Well better than he was yesterday to say the least.

"I think he's okay." He smiles confidently. Astrid nods slowly, trying to smile as she did so.

He suddenly remembered a second person had also entered the home. He looks round, to see the figure by the bed. As he expected, it was Gothi. Apparently she had already started the check up whilst Stoick was mid conversation.

He walks over to her, Astrid following,  
"I-is he okay?" He asks, choking ever so slightly on his words. He was nervous, who could blame him really. Though it was always Hiccup who always manage to nearly get himself killed. Honestly, just little over two months ago he had gotten himself struck by lightning.

The healer nods slowly, looking his head over. As she did so Hiccup shuffled around a little, letting out small groans. She nods again, he supposed that was a good thing. Maybe he was waking up.

Several hand gestures and rolling of eyes later, Stoick managed to work out that Hiccup was doing well, he'd be awake either that day or tomorrow. Not that he's be able to sit up or anything, but he's be there.

The healer leaves, leaving strict instructions to be careful not to jostle him or anything along those lines, no need to make anything worse. They really needed Hiccup to tell them where it hurt the most.

Astrid and Stoick sit at the side of the bed for a while, not really being able to make a whole lot of a conversation. It was mostly something along the lines of,  
"So, how are your parents...?"  
"Oh, er, they're good. Yep."  
"Yeah? That's good to hear."

And then it went silent again. Why it so hard to make a conversation when you're worried about someone either knew.

After what seemed to be a good hour, Stoick cleared his throat.

"Would it be okay if you could watch Hiccup for an hour or so" He nervously asked, "I need to finish some things off that I never did yesterday" He quickly explains.

"Oh, um, yes, yes, that'll be- yeah I can do that." She replies, giving a confident smile. Stoick smiles back. He was ervous to leave, what if something happened? Or if he woke up? He shakes it off though, Astrid was there, his son would be okay. Most probably.

"Okay, thank you, I'll be back soon." He nods, moving towards the door. Astrid nods in his direction.  
"See you later chief."

As soon as the door was hastily closed, Astrid breathed sigh of relief. She knew it was a bad thing to do, but the atmosphere in the room was just completely awkward. She glanced over to Toothless, who was staring contently a the bed. She sighed sadly, gesturing for him to come over. He doesn't hesitate to stand and join her by the bedside.

"He'll be okay, it's Hiccup! He's always okay." She reassures, giving the dragon a scratch under the chin. He cooed softly, as if understanding.

"You hear that Hic, you gotta get up soon!" She tells him, gently taking his hand. "Please?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-_Meanwhile-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-._

"How is he?" Gobbers gruff voice asks as he and Stoick talk in the forge. Gobber was currently making Hiccup a new prosthetic, since Hiccups got, well, completely abandoned in the woods.

"He's okay, well I think so. Gothi reckons he'll be up soon." He nods, trying not to choke on his words. Gobber nods slowly, before stopping his work.

"He'll be fine Stoick, I mean the lads been through worse." He reassures, looking his oldest friend in the eye. Stoick nods, sighing a little.  
"I know, I don't know how he manages it, it's always him." He groans, laughing slightly. Gobber chuckles, and opens his mouth to speak, but's interrupted by a loud horn.

"What does that mean?" The blacksmith asks as soon as the room goes quiet again, a confused look on his face. Stoick stands up straight glancing towards the docks.  
"A ships coming in, but we're not meant to have anyone coming in..." He mutters, walking out the building. Gobber abandons his work, limping after the other man.

"So...someone's coming in unannounced?" He asks, still confused. All Stoick does is nod.

They walk down to see a lot of commotion. Well more commotion than usual. Stoick walks to the crowd, trying to figure out why everyone was in such a panic.

"Er, Stoick..." Gobber says, gesturing towards the water. Well there was the ship, with the unmistakable Beserker crest on the sail, which could only mean one thing. Dagur was back.

"Oh great." Gobber spits, rolling his eyes. "Didn't we scare him off last time." He snorts, failing to make Stoic laugh. Instead he trudges forwards, cautiously moving towards the boat. As he does so, the plank pushes forwards, smashing onto the ground.

"Ah Berk, how I've missed it..."

**/Yep, not much Dagur. I will get on with it I promise. So how'd you like it? Pleas review, it makes me so happyyy, haha, see you next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**/Hello there, New chapter now! Sorry for the delay. I don't even have a valid excuse but...yeah..enjoy? I guess.**

"Dagur?" Stoick says, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. The man stood infront of them grins.

"The one and only." He says, a leisurely look spreading across his face. He begins to stroll forward, off the boat. "Ah Stoick, long time no see...in fact, I think we were in the middle of getting our treaty signed were we not?" He asks, narrowing his eyes slightly as he did so.

Stoicks mouth opens slightly, but Gobber cuts him off before he has the chance to speak.  
"And if I remember correctly, you said to consider it signed, is that not right?"

Dagurs expression drops.  
"And if I remember correctly, it was never officially signed. And why was that? Ah yes, because of the 'dragon attack.'" He says, making quotation marks with his fingers. "But that wasn't legit- was it?"

Stoicks eyebrows furrow,  
"Then what do you suppose it was?" The chief asks, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Dagur smirks.  
"Tell me Stoick, what idiot do you take me for?" He asks.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Gobber comments under his breath. A muffled snort is clearly heard from somewhere behind them. Stoick narrows his eyes, though admittedly he did find his friends comment slightly amusing.

Dagur snarls, taking another step towards the two. He leans right up to Stoick, clearly not bothered about how much larger the other man was.  
"I know about the dragons." He hisses, "I know everything."

The other two took a moment to register what they had both been told. He knew? How? They had taken extra caution to make sure the Bersekers didn't find out, in fact that was the last thing they wanted anyone to know.

"You know?" He stutters, face paling slightly. Who knows what Dagur was planning. He had come for a reason, and it was becoming evidently clear that he did not just want to get the treaty signed. Dagur smiles, apparently satisfied with the reaction. He gives a satisfied nod.  
"Now. Why don't we get this thing signed. Oh and don't forget about my tour." He says, showing his yellowed teeth through a grin.

Gobber rolls his eyes.  
"You must be really intrested in Berk if you really need _another_ tour." He comments, but Stoick places a hand in front of him.

"Let's just get this thing over and done with." Stoick sighs, glancing to his village. Something wasn't quite right, and to be honest, the sooner this thing was over, the better.

Dagur grins, scanning the docks, then his face falls.  
"Hey, Stoick, where's Hiccup?" He questions, a confused look about him. Stoicks eyes widen a little, and he gives a quick glance up to the house.

"Uh..." He begins, being speechless for the first time since the boat had pulled up. Dagur gives a questioning look, his suspicions rising.  
"Stoick?" He asks again.  
"He-he's just..." The chief starts, glancing to Gobber for some help. The other sighs a little, also glancing behind them.  
"Hiccup got bit...hurt. That's all. I'm sure he'll be up again for you to, er, see him." He says, kind of making a huge understatement of what was actually happening.

Dagur raises an eyebrow, a tiny smirk flickering over his face for a second.  
"Oh, I see.." he says in a calm tone. He gives the two nervous looking men one more glance before shrugging. "Lets just move on why don't we." He suggests in a rather cheerful tone. Stoick looks to Gobber, who gives a slightly confused look. Dagur seemed awfully happy over the fact his son was bedridden due to injuries. But then again, maybe he should be thankful, all these questions just seemed to be asking him question himself.

"Uh, yes. Okay Dagur, I suppose this is the best way to start..." He says, moving away from the docked boats. Neither of the two Berkians notices Dagurs sly glance towards the men inhabiting the Beserkers boat.

Astrid didn't know if that day could move any slower. Stoick still hadn't returned from his chiefly duties, and Hiccup was still to wake up. Though he did seem to be doing better than what he was before hand. In fact he was beginning to shuffle a little, which she was hoping meant he was going to wake soon. The healer had said within the next few days, so today as always a possibility.

Well it wasn't as if Astrid was alone, the other teens had joined her earlier that day, but they were never a whole load of help. Entertaining, yes, helpful? No.

Fishlegs and Snotlout were sat at the table, Astrid was almost positive they weren't even talking about anything useful. Most likely an argument about how much the larger boy knew.

Ruff and Tuff were scrawled across the sofa, having a quiet bicker. It didn't matter about the circumstances, the two would find something to argue about eventually. At that moment, they seemed to be having trying to find out who knew the most about a Zippleback, probably in the most violent way they could imagine.

Then there was Toothless, who seemed to be the only one actually doing anything, you know, not annoying. He was curled up in the corner of the room, constantly keeping at least one eye on the boy.

Astrid sighed, turning back to the bed. She knew the others meant well and all, but it was hard not to get frustrated with them. She looked at Hiccup, how she had managed to put up with those four before... well you know, was a complete mystery to her. She walks over, pulling the stool to the side of the bed. Toothless let out a small noise, as if to say '_I know you won't, but if you hurt him, it will be the last thing you do.'_

Astrid gives him a smile, sitting down. He takes Hiccups hand, carefully rubbing small circles on the back of it. Hiccup moves again, his head lulling round a little. Astrid smile encouragingly,  
"Come on Hic..." She says in a quiet voice. She didn't want the others to be the first thing he saw when he woke, she wanted that job.

She coaxes him on for a little longer, before giving a sigh of frustration. He apparently didn't want to wake up just yet. No matter how hard she tried. She stares off to the other side of the room, trying to stop her eyes from brimming with tears. Astrid Hofferson doesn't cry. Especially when she knew deep down that everything would be okay.

Then, she feels a small pressure on her hand. Her head snaps down, to be greeted with a one eye open, exhausted looking face.  
"Hey." A quiet voice says, giving a lopsided grin. Astrid stares at him for a second, lost in her own shock. Her mouth stretches in a smile, the tears finally do fall a little.

"H-hey." She returns, her voice full of tears and joy.

"And as you know," Stoick starts, "this is my house." Stoick finishes. That afternoon had been tiring to say the least. For some obscene reason Dagur had insisted on seeing every single thing the village had to offer. And as much as Stoick wanted to get back to his son, he had no choice but to take him to every place he desired. He had to draw the line when he asked for a hike through the woods.

Dagur nods thoughtfully.  
"Berk seems to be doing...well..." He says, looking round at the village. Usually, after a comment like that, Stoick would feel proud for hi village, but they way Dagur had said it just didn't seem to feel...right.

Stoick nods instead, looking at the man.  
"So, can we get this thing signed now?" He asks. Dagur opens his mouth to speak, before shaking his head.  
"Oh, but, Stoick, but the papers are in the great hall... I would hate to have to make you leave again...especially when its getting so late." Dagur says, motioning to the darkening sky. Stoick growled.

"It's really no problem." He replies through gritted teeth. Dagur scowls for a fraction of a second.  
"But...it's so late... I can't sail home now." He complains, completely overdoing the sarcasm. Stoick looks over to the ocean. He supposed Dagur may have a point, and as much as he wanted to get him off his island, he couldn't force him to leave.

"Okay Dagur." Stoick groans, trying his best to sound not like a six year old, "you can stay the night in the spare room in my house. We can get to the papers tomorrow, okay?" Dagur smiles widely,  
"Oh Stoick!" Dagur smiles, "that's a great offer, how could I ever refuse?"

Stoick simply nods, turning to the door. As his face turns away from Dagur, he rolls his eyes, frustrated with himself. Why on Earth did he think that that was a good offer to make? But there was no getting out of it now, he'd just have to make it through the night. And keep him away from Hiccup.

With a muffled sigh, he pushes the door open, instantly hearing the chatter of Hiccups friends, and gestured for Dagur to enter.

**/Okay, long chapter (for me) To make up for the wait. I'm not sure if the updates will get any faster, but that is the plan... see you soon!**


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